Read the text.

Do the exercises.

Do them in a word document.

Post the whole thing, on completion of task.

Choice 1

Read these lines:

That Day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,
Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,
And the people of Earth stood and
stared as they descended,
Waiting, dry-mouthed, to find out what waited inside for us
And none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrow
But you didn’t notice because

…

Continue writing the story, according to your imagination.

Choice two

Read these lines and look at the photo below, then continue the story. Write 10-15 sentences, at least. Or roughly half a page.

In my restless dreams, I see that town… Silent Hill. You promised you’d take me there again some day… but you never did. Well, I’m alone there now, in our special place… waiting for you.

 

 

 

Why is the book called American Gods, do you think?

What do gods require according to the film?

What do we expect of stories about gods? What do we not expect? (Think about words like ”high” and ”low”).

Give examples of clichés in the film.

Explain gallows humor

Explain good samaritan

Explain ”constipated air”

Explain ”sky is falling”

What’s the origin of the word ”berserk”?

Explain panache

Freedom, journey, creativity, and pattern

Are old myths and gods still powerful? What are modern myths and gods? Why do you term them gods? What purpose does a story pattern like the Hero’s Journey serve?

See this clip:

 

Now we are going to read American Gods by the same author. From wikipedia we learn that this novel belongs to the genre modern fantasy. But it could also be seen as belonging to the genre Americana, or possibly be seen as a bildnungsroman, pulp noir, or a novel of ideas?

Regardless, the concept of genre is an important one to literature, as well as music and film. Some books, music, and films are a mix and find themselves in the intersection between one, or several genres.

A literary genre is defined by criterias like:

• Topic
• Theme
• Places or artifacts
• Characters
• Motifs (recurring things like being imprisoned, or opposites)

BOOK REPORT

Write a book report which includes some kind of genre analysis. The book report should consist of the following.

1. At least two quotes relating the book to American culture. When reading American Gods try to collect quotes that relate to America. This could bescenes that give us images of American life and culture, things that contribute to making the book a member of the Americana genre. Explain how you thought when choosing it.
2. At least two quotes relating the book to a genre. Try to find two (or more) quotes that relates to either fantasy, philosophy, personal development, or a genre of your choice. Justify your choice.
3. A comparison. Compare the book to another book, film, comic book or computer game, or similar.
4. Optional/advanced: Define and describe topic, theme(s), and motif(s).

TEXT SEMINAR

For the first Text seminar you are expected to bring two quotes and their justification, the reason why you chose them.

DATE TEXT SEMINAR

Read a 100 pages. Pick two quotes and their respective comment for 4th of October.

DATE BOOK REPORT

8th of November

 

AUDIOBOOK

 

The attached rubric will be used in assessment of the oral presentation for Tuesday. A full length speech could be between 4-9 minutes.

In this case you will have the opportunity to:

• Search for relevant information
• Question the credibility and reliability of different sources
• Discuss to develop arguments
• Write an argumentative presentation
• Discuss environmental issues in general and draw comparisons between different countries, based on your knowledge and experience.

Exercises

1. What do you think are the biggest issues facing our environment? Why?

2. What does the phrase ”think globally, act locally”, tell you?

3. What are the consequences of fracking?

4. What kind of evidence do we get that fracking is bad?

Town hall meeting – the case

You will be divided into groups of three. You are all members of the small Wyoming town, Jackson, which has been chosen for ”fracking”. You have invited the governor of your state to your town hall to try to convince him that he should not allow fracking in your county.

In the group:

Based on the film and on the texts linked below discuss how you best can convince the governor to change his/her mind.

Step-by-step

1. Watch the film (First class)
2. Read texts. (Revisit the film, if needed) (Second class)
3. List arguments and evidence. Draft argument. (Make sure to have 3-5 strong arguments that you can base on evidence) HAND IN DRAFTS AS A POST! (Third class)
4. Individually write a manuscript for your speech. Help each other out! (Fourth class) Submit manuscript.
5. TOWN HALL MEETING. Come prepared and dressed for the occasion! You are the one who can save you community from disaster! (Sixth class)

Devil’s Advocate (optional)

You are a representative of Halliburton. You have come to the town hall to hold a speech where you try to convince the citizens of this community of the benefits of fracking and gas.

As above, but you must find your own evidence. This is a VERY difficult task.

Gasland (2010):

The texts

Here you will find texts that will give you all the information you need to protect your community and convince politicians and law-makers. This text gives information on how you can take action. This text gives you information on the dangerous side-effects of fracking. Together they give you all the information you need to develop a convincing argument.

Template for speech
An oral argument has an introduction where you adress your audience.

INTRODUCTION

You state your opinion and give reasons for it. You can start with an anecdote also. This can touch the emotions of the listener!

BODY

You should have 3-5 arguments in your overall argument.

CLAIM + EVIDENCE

Examples:

Claim Flight attendants who suffer from diseases shown to be connected to inhaling secondhand smoke on airlines for at least five years before 1995 should have the costs of their treatment and disability covered by tobacco companies.

EVIDENCE Tobacco companies have concealed evidence that nicotine causes cancer. Studies show that secondhand smoke can be damaging.

 

• Claim – an opinion or idea, often an oppositional claim exists
• Evidence/Reason – a reason why the claim is a “good idea”

END

Punchline or appeal or end as you started.

 

 

Evaluating credibility of sources